CITYWIDE — NEARLY 190 GYMS received warning letters Thursday, Feb. 19, as the Mamdani administration launched a crackdown on so-called “subscription traps” that make memberships difficult to cancel.
The city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection sent notices to 187 health clubs, citing state cancellation requirements and the city’s Consumer Protection Law prohibiting deceptive practices such as bait-and-switch pricing.
“New Yorkers shouldn’t need a personal trainer to cancel a gym membership,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a press release. DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine said the agency “will not hesitate to take aggressive enforcement action” against businesses that block or delay cancellation requests.
The action follows an executive order directing DCWP to investigate hidden fees and hard-to-cancel subscriptions. The department said it received dozens of complaints in 2025 from consumers struggling to end gym contracts.
The warning was issued after state Attorney General Letitia James secured $600,000 from Equinox over cancellation practices in 2025, and separately obtained refunds and policy changes from a Queens gym that imposed illegal cancellation rules.
